Obama's foreign policy: where's the credibility?

President Obama has made consensus the cornerstone of his foreign policy decisions, and that is a huge mistake. What America needs is credibility in our promises and threats. That is the message of the Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens in an important column today. Stephens see the drive for consensus including:
Consensus at the United Nations, where the administration has been notably reluctant to use its veto; consensus with the Arab League, whose views led to action against Libya but passivity toward Syria; consensus when it comes to arms control with Russia, or sanctions on Iran. Tellingly, the president's one inarguable foreign policy success-killing bin Laden-was a purely unilateral action.
As for credibility, Stephens notes:
It is not credible to insist that a nuclear Iran is "unacceptable"-and then announce plans for the containment of a nuclear Iran. It is not credible to surge 30,000 troops to Afghanistan-and then provide the Taliban with a date certain for the beginning...(Read Full Post)